


D2: Serene

by Jackkel Dragon (jackkel_dragon)



Series: Jackkel's Corpse Party Fanfic [3]
Category: Corpse Party (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 19:16:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18414185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackkel_dragon/pseuds/Jackkel%20Dragon





	D2: Serene

“Good morning, Icchan!”

I nodded a greeting to my classmate, Haru Nakai. She had this big grin on her face as she jogged to catch up to me. According to the class roster, she was going to be in the same homeroom as me this year. Class 2-4, I think.

“Good morning, Nakai.”

“We’re going to be in the same homeroom this year, isn’t that great?” Nakai beamed at me as she spoke.

I just nodded in response. I wasn’t as excited as Nakai about this new year. April was supposed to be the season of renewal, but to me it felt like nothing had changed but the names on the class roster.

I could almost feel the disappointment Nakai felt at me brushing off her question. “Well, I think it’ll be great. It’ll be nice to be able to spend more time with you.”

Nakai had been in my homeroom class during my first year at Heisui Junior High. She had always been this cheerful, extroverted girl that gave everyone cutesy nicknames. I didn’t really try to connect to her, but she singled me out early in the year and decided she was my best friend. I never really bothered to say otherwise.

“Did you hear who our T.A. is going to be? Mr. Fujii! He’s like, only a few years older than us and the cutest teacher ever! He just started teaching last semester, too!”

I nodded quietly. It was my usual way of responding to Nakai’s rambling. “I heard.”

Nakai never stopped smiling, but I could tell she was crushed every time I just nodded at her like that. But what was I supposed to say?…

“Anyway, have you been thinking about what club to join? I heard a rumor that membership in a club is going to be mandatory starting next year.”

I felt a weight settling onto my chest with that statement. I had no interest in clubs.

“Really? Where did you hear that?”

“Kakun told me. He might just be trying to convince me to join the newspaper club, though. Don’t tell Seichan that though! She might get upset he’s spending time thinking of me instead of her!”

I had already forgotten who “Kakun” and “Seichan” were referring to, but I didn’t ask for clarification. I really wasn’t interested.

The thing Nakai never seemed to understand, no matter how much time she spent with me, is that I don’t like people.

I don’t know why, but just being around people makes me uncomfortable. I know that’s not normal, but I can’t help it.

What makes things worse is that everyone seems drawn to me. I asked Nakai why people always wanted to be around me during Junior High, and her answer was that I always looked “serene.”

I looked up the word that night, just out of curiosity. From what I understand, it means “calm, untroubled.” How could anyone use that to describe me?… Every day during lunch I take a look at my face in my compact and see someone with an exhausted expression staring back. Is that how someone “serene” is supposed to look?

I realized that Nakai was waiting for me to say something to her, or at least brush her off with a nod. “Well, what clubs are you interested in, then?”

“Well, Hicchin suggested I join the HSHCC. I’ve heard that club’s pretty fun!”

“HSHCC?”

“Heisui Senior High Comedy Club! I’ve heard it’s really popular. Too bad the club president is graduating after this year…”

I nodded. “That’s a shame.”

Nakai looked at me with her head slightly tilted, which I thought was kind of silly considering we were walking to school. What if she tripped on something?

“What are you interested in doing, Icchan? Still doing those ten thousand piece puzzles in your spare time?”

I sighed. “One thousand piece puzzles. And no, I finished all the puzzles I had.” Which meant I had one fewer excuse to give Nakai when she asked me to come out and socialize with her.

“Maybe there’s a puzzle club that has new puzzles you can try!”

“I doubt it.”

Nakai frowned at my quick dismissal of her idea. I probably should have just kept my mouth shut.

“Well, I’m sure there’s something you’ll like. Maybe we can go over the club listings together this weekend?”

I didn’t really want to think about clubs, especially if it was only a rumor that I’d have to join one by next year. Besides, I had a whole year to choose. But I just said “Sure” and let it go.

The school day went by quickly. It was only a half-day today, so Nakai convinced me to go to the Phoenix Public Library after classes. We found some bean bags in a corner of the Young Adult Section on the third floor and grabbed some books to read at random before plopping down together.

Nakai peeked out from behind some shoujo manga to read the title of the book I grabbed. “What did you get there?”

I wasn’t really reading the book so much as spacing out as I flipped the pages. I turned to the cover and read the title out loud. “The Curse of Heavenly Host part 2, by Naho Saenoki and Kou Kibiki.”

“Ooo…” Nakai put her book down for a moment and leaned closer to me to get a better look. “That’s been a really popular series lately. That Kibiki didn’t really get much recognition until Saenoki helped him start the Heavenly Host series.”

“I haven’t really heard of either of them. Are they any good?”

Nakai giggled. “Perfect reviews, bestseller lists, and adaptations in the making tell me that they must have done something right.”

I didn’t really remember where I found the book and I didn’t really want to start on “part 2” of a story, so I started skimming the author biographies. “Sounds like those two found something profitable.”

“You could say that!” Nakai chuckled, covering her mouth when she realized how loud she was talking. She hid her face behind her book for a minute or so just in case someone heard her.

After some time had passed, Nakai got up her courage to talk again. “You know who probably reads books like that? The Occult Club.”

“The what club?”

“The Occult Club! They sit around and talk about ghost stories and urban legends. They watch gory anime and talk about the latest light novel illustrated by Shinozaki.”

“That’s a real thing?”

“Yeah!” Nakai covered her mouth again and looked around. Satisfied no one had been upset by her outburst, she leaned close and whispered to me. “Their recruiter, Daikun, is really cute. He’s also a bit mysterious. He doesn’t really talk much to people not interested in the club.”

He doesn’t talk much, so that makes him “mysterious?” That sounded suspiciously similar to another misconception Nakai held on to…

“What’s his real name?”

Nakai grinned. “Is someone interested? Heheheh… His name is Daiki Koyama. This is his last year at Heisui. Which means this is your last chance to win him over with your charms!”

I suddenly felt very ill. Something about Nakai seemed off. But this was normal girl talk, wasn’t it? It’s just like how it went in all the stories I read. So why did I feel so uncomfortable?…

“I’ll bet he wouldn’t be able to resist if you just asked him nicely to join the club. How could a gentleman like him turn down such a beautiful girl?”

That’s it, wasn’t it?… Nakai was jealous of me. Everyone seemed to like me. Because I was pretty and “serene.” Nakai was more energetic, but she wishes she had the same draw that I had. I almost wanted to tell her that I wished she was the more popular one too.

A thought suddenly came to me. Maybe… Koyama was like me. Maybe people only liked him because he was handsome and “mysterious.” It was a leap in logic from what little I had been told about him, but if it was true…

“Maybe we should join up?” I looked Nakai in the eyes, dead serious.

“Wha, me? In the Occult Club?” Nakai made a face. “No, thanks. I’d probably end up embarrassing myself somehow. I get spooked real easily by that sort of stuff.”

I frowned. I didn’t really like being around people, but I also didn’t want to make Nakai jealous by joining the Occult Club and spending time with Koyama. And it wasn’t like she’d believe me if I told her I wasn’t interested in dating him or anything…

“Why don’t you ask Daikun if he’ll let you into the club? If he turns you down, we can join the Comedy Club together. I could be the funny one and you could be the straight man. Or woman, in this case. Heheh…”

I couldn’t help but giggle a bit at that. Nakai would need to keep from laughing at her own jokes before she could be a comedian. But she had a good plan, and that feeling I had before was starting to fade away. Maybe I was just imagining it. Why would Nakai be jealous of someone like me?…

“Okay. But if Koyama turns me down for the Occult Club, make sure you write my real name on the application for the Comedy Club.”

“What makes you think I’ll be filling out your application,  _Iku Sakata_?” Nakai said with a grin.

“I know you’ll prepare it in advance to make sure I don’t try to worm my way out, so I’m making sure you know ahead of time.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll make sure I use your real name!” Nakai smiled at me. “So, you going to go find part 1 of that Heavenly Host series? I think I’m going to borrow this manga. It’s really interesting.”

I shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt, I suppose.”

After we checked out, Nakai and I walked back to her house. She turned to me before heading inside, knowing I was planning on going home myself, and smiled. “Good luck with Daikun! Just put on your serene face and he’ll be putty in your hands!”

I nodded slowly. “Serene.” Calm, untroubled. If only I knew how that felt…


End file.
